How to Tell a Better Story with CEO Heather Adams

Have you ever been captivated by a story shared by a great storyteller? This is the art that Heather Adams, CEO of Choice Communications and host of the Make Me Known podcast,  shares with us.  As a communications expert for 25+ years and the CEO/Founder of Choice Communications, she has practical advice for all of us.

The simple act of sharing our stories can be powerful.  Heather delves into why these narratives are far more than just cocktail party chatter—they're the fibers that really bring people together. She persuades us to move beyond life's surface conversations and into authentic engagement. This is the key to engaging listeners and inspiring or motivating people. It's an episode that serves as a reminder: every story matters, and the way we present ours can entertain, educate and inspire rather than painfully boring other people!

And we talked about Heather's upcoming Choice Summit conference! Imagine a place where women professionals gather, not just to network, but to truly grow and thrive together.  Heather gives us a sneak peek into this vibrant event being held in Franklin, Tennessee on April 29th. Pivotal People listeners can even save 10% with a special code she shares with us.

Learn more about the Choice Summit conference here:
https://www.choicemediacommunications.com/choice-summit-1
Use the code GOODCOMPANY10 to get 10% off the conference fee

Connect with Heather at Choice Communications here:
https://www.choicemediacommunications.com/

Order Stephanie's new book Imagine More: Do What You Love, Discover Your Potential

Learn more at StephanieNelson.com
Follow us on Instagram @stephanie_nelson_cm
Follow us on Facebook at CouponMom

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:26

I'd like to welcome Heather Adams to the Pivotal People podcast. Heather is, first of all, she's a communications expert and professional. She has been in the business of PR and communications for over 25 years. For the past 10 years, she is the founder and the CEO of Choice Communications, where she helps people launch their businesses, their dreams. She's actually helped launch 100 over 100 New York Times bestselling books with her authors, so she knows what she's doing. She's also the host of the Make Me Known podcast, where she teaches entrepreneurs her best communication strategies and lessons, and she hosts her fifth annual conference for professional development for women.

Speaker 1: 1:17

It's called the Choice Summit. It's coming up April 29th and we're going to talk about that. I'll tell you I'm excited to have Heather because she is really a champion and a mentor for women. She's a communications expert. Yes, she's a podcast host, but she has a lot to teach us. We talked before the episode started about what we'd like to focus on today. We're going to focus on one of my favorite topics, which is learning how to tell a better story. We'll get into what that means. But, heather, I'd like to welcome you. Thanks so much for being here. We can't wait to hear some of your wisdom today.

Speaker 2: 1:51

Stephanie, it's such a delight. I sincerely appreciate being in front of your community. What a rich and beautiful community of listeners you've built here. So thank you for having me.

Speaker 1: 2:02

Great, I've only given a top line. Can you share a little more about your background? I mean, someone says, oh yeah, I'm the CEO of a seven-figure company. No start over. How did that start? What got you to say I want to do something on my own and build this.

Speaker 2: 2:20

Yeah Well, let me first say I'm a mom of two teenage boys and a wife of 20-plus years, and those are huge priorities in my life. I am not exclusively a CEO, but when everyone asks me how to tell my founder story or what it is, I go all the way back to high school when I was the yearbook editor and we could start a club of all the people that I have met who were yearbook editors when they were in high school. But I had an English teacher who said to me you have a gift for storytelling. You really can shape and craft the writing so that people feel like they've just experienced what you're sharing. That was such a gift to me to say and bring out that encouragement.

Speaker 2: 3:12

Fast forward to college. I went to the University of Georgia. I studied journalism and as a part of my study there I did an internship for the Secretary of State in the state capital of Georgia and I was in the press office. Now I want you to think of the show Scandal and Olivia Pope. Oh yeah, I am much older than that show. It wasn't even around when I was in college, but everyone knows who I mean when I talk about Olivia Pope.

Speaker 2: 3:43

I worked for the press secretary and I watched that play out, where you are the buffer between your client in this case the Secretary of State and the media and your job is to nurture, navigate, maintain, manage all of those relationships. That ultimately serves and benefits your clients. And I was absolutely obsessed. So I went into government communications upon graduation. Then I fell in love with my husband and moved to Nashville, tennessee, and I moved into book publishing and specifically publicity, and so that is where I cut my teeth on working with major national media. I was booking our authors on the Today Show, getting them in People Magazine, in the New York Times, and I was working across a lot of different categories Again in the PR communications realm, but my job was media relations and I did that for a really long time until we had a recession and I was there for the better part of a decade and then got laid off during the recession and when that happened I started my own company and it was such a gift to me because my husband said don't take your next step out of fear we can't pay our mortgage, fear we can't feed our two boys, who at that time were one and three.

Speaker 2: 5:08

And he said you've built this beautiful career for yourself, like, instead of letting the quality of life that you have be determined by what's left over in the margins, go build the quality of life that you want and a career around that. So that's how choice began, and we are an all female team. We serve predominantly females and it is such a privilege to be a megaphone for thought leaders and change agents who are shaping conversations and perspectives and industries around their teaching.

Speaker 1: 5:46

I love that. I love to read. I most of the folks we talk to on the people people podcast or authors, and my angel had a really neat quote. She said reading someone's book is like having a conversation with them. Oh yeah, I can read someone's book who I've never heard of, but maybe I heard of them because I read about them or I saw an interview. So the behind the scenes person who helped elevate that voice and then I read the book and I am so moved by it impacts my life in some way and I realize books will. And patch it says this your little book will die on the shelf If someone isn't fighting for it and it has a meaningful message.

Speaker 1: 6:29

You said thought leaders and change agents. What a shame if that book doesn't get out in the world, because authors can be great writers, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're great at promoting their book.

Speaker 2: 6:42

Yeah, that's exactly right. Their authors, for a reason right there, gifted at writing and there have been so many that I have worked with that are like this does not feel good to me to get out here and to promote my own book. I am good behind the scenes, you know writing on my computer and this gift of storytelling on the written page is where I'm successful not in actually, you know, getting out there and making sure people know about it, and so that's where we come into play, is In the actual like getting it in front of the consumer and the people that you want to act and actually purchased the book.

Speaker 1: 7:20

What does it look like when a client hires you? I mean, is there a certain amount of time, or what exactly happens?

Speaker 2: 7:27

it depends on what they're hiring us to do. We're a brand growth strategy agency, so PR media relations is one element of our business. We do a lot of marketing services, social media, event activation and we do a lot of brand strategy work for clients. A lot of people have built a business to a certain level because they were scrappy and driven and ambitious and they were trying to meet a felt need or they had a passion around something and that's why they created their business to begin with. But they haven't had intention behind all of that and now they're like well, if I built it to this place now, if I put some strategy and intention to it, you know, imagine where I could go. So it really depends, stephanie, on what we're doing for them, but a lot of it is platform building and revenue generating growth for their business.

Speaker 2: 8:22

And you know we start all of our clients with what we call the choice collaborative, which is a Strategic branding workshop where we dive into the weeds and we listen to why they created this, what's their why, what's their unique proposition, like what makes them distinctive from everybody else in the food space, if they're in the food space, what makes them Distinctive from everybody else in the mental health space. If they're in mental health, how do they want to be known? What are their ultimate goals? And we get down into the weeds and then we build a roadmap for them. Before we do one thing of hosting on social media or pitching them to media outlet or Writing an email sequence for their audience, before we do any of that, we've really got to dive into the deep with them and bring clarity and that happens well in advance of any initiative that they might have going on.

Speaker 1: 9:19

So it's interesting because an author can be good at telling stories in a book, but not necessarily in telling their own story. So I'd like to pivot a little bit, because I recognize most of the people listening right now are not authors and they don't plan to sell a book. But everybody has a story and here's what I think. I think everyone has an interesting story, but our stories have so many details that it's hard to know which details should be, details should be included in our story and which details should be left out. When you listen to a TED talk, a TED talk might only be 10 minutes, right, you know, the really great story is the story that is short and engaging but gets the important key points.

Speaker 1: 10:05

I recently read a book or I am talking about someone else's book, but such a good book called how to Know a Person by David Brooks, and he talks about questions to ask people to bring their story out, questions that do not put people on the defensive, do not feel judgy. So, for example, instead of saying, heather, what do you do if I were to meet you at a party, a different question would be Heather, what do you like to do? How different does that feel? And so I've been having fun getting to know neighbors who I've known for a decade, but actually getting to know them now by getting together and asking questions and discovering these really interesting people who I wouldn't have discovered in a big social setting, polling their stories out, because people, stories are fascinating. And I'm going to tell you one other example and I think we can relate to this.

Speaker 1: 10:56

I was at an out to dinner with a couple and I asked the husband what he did this is before I read David's book and he proceeded to talk nonstop, very technical, about what his career was an engineering and after about 10 minutes his wife kind of knocked him and said honey, that's enough, no more talking. And now they've been married about 50 years. I think that and I thought what a shame he probably has a really interesting story but he's never learned how to tell it. Yeah, so this episode, I hope, will help everybody think how can I? So I'm going to be quiet and I want to hear you. First of all, why is sharing our stories important, rather than just talking about what vacation you're going on or what house remodel you're doing? Wise, how can we get to the point of sharing real stories that matter?

Speaker 2: 11:44

Well, I think there are two things that immediately come to mind. Number one is that everyone's story matters. You know, no one story is more important than the next, and I think so often, just as human beings, we discount the value of our own story to others. And so I think Reminding ourselves that our story matters and that other people are interested in learning about us is good. But the second thing that I would say is People join people.

Speaker 2: 12:19

When I was in college, I was a part of a sorority AO pie at the University of Georgia and I have been an advisor to that organization for 25 years. It is my mission field to work with college women. I do it as for fun, as a volunteer. I am not paid for any of that, but I've been doing it a really long time and my specific specialty is recruitment. So when, every year, when women come to the university and recruit, formal recruitment happens, the organization is trying to get new members right and the existing members are responsible for selecting the new members. So my job is to train our women how to do that well, and I tell them all the time.

Speaker 2: 13:11

People join people. You can tell them about how much fun your socials are. You can tell them about what kind of grades you have, you can tell them about the activities you're involved in on campus, but if they don't like you, they're not going to want to be an AO pie, and I think this applies to every aspect of our life. I'm teaching these women such important life skills when they walk into their professional careers post graduation and they have to go to a networking event and they don't know three people in the room. So when you want to engage with someone else, there are specific ways and tools that help you to have an advantage so that people want to join you, so that people are interested in you. And one of the things I tell our clients is that we want to be clear, we want to be concise and we want to be compelling.

Speaker 2: 14:12

So the example you just shared of the man who went on and on and on and on and on and he did a lot of technical terms that was industry jargon for him, but that you didn't understand Well, he wasn't clear, right? He also wasn't concise. If it took him 10 minutes when you asked him one question for him to respond, he wasn't concise. And when his wife nudged him and said, ok, honey, that's enough talk. He clearly wasn't compelling because you weren't engaged, and she wasn't engaged, wanting to know more, right.

Speaker 2: 14:44

And so when we think about the gift for storytelling because storytelling is definitely an art, it's not a science when we think about how to apply that to aspects of our life whether that's in business and we're trying to attract our ideal customer, or whether that's in a new social setting that you're entering into and you're meeting people for the first time in your job and you're just trying to get to know people, regardless of the scenario, I think those three things are really important in order for people to want to engage with us and continue building that relational equity that leads to them acting in some way right. And in the story of AOPIE or the example of AOPIE, it would be them wanting to join the organization right. In the example of choice, it would be them wanting to do business with us, right. So I think those are really important things for us to bear in mind when we're in those situations.

Speaker 1: 15:45

So let's get down to some specifics. So let's say we're in a social situation and you want to be concise. What did you say? Clear, concise and compelling.

Speaker 1: 15:56

But to go back to the Dale Carnegie practice, if you want to be liked, that's something different. So if you want to be liked, generally, it's the others focused, but not from a manipulative standpoint. That's the thing. Can we be authentic about being interested in other people, not just for the strategy of them liking me? But I'm an Enneagram 3, I'm 60 years old, so I'm trying to be on the healthy end of that. It's not about them liking me. It's about me hopefully giving them the gift of feeling better about themselves.

Speaker 2: 16:32

Yeah, but everybody wants to be known, stephanie, and they want to be seen and valued. And so, going back to your original point about having really compelling questions to ask, or the semantics of the question, that expresses interest in the person, and people respond differently when you're asking about them personally. So, for example, I just had lunch with someone that I barely know but I'm really interested in getting to know better, and when we got to lunch and sat down after we exchanged just a few pleasantries, the first thing he asked me was what is putting wind in your sails right now? Interesting? That is such a thoughtful question. He's not like what are you good at? What are you happy about right now? Where are you experiencing success? It was what's putting the wind in your sails? That is one of the most compelling questions that I've had asked of me in a long time and I have used it so many times since that conversation with him because it was so thought provoking. It made me feel seen, it made me feel valued. It also made me think he's interested in getting to know me more because of the way he framed that question right.

Speaker 2: 17:58

And so, going back to the AO Pi example, when we are recruiting women to join the organization. We are asking intentional questions about them, to get to know them. We're not asking generic questions. Why did you come to Georgia? What's your major? What dorm are you living in? We're going to let every other organization ask those questions. We're asking questions like I saw that you went on a mission trip this summer. Tell me what that was like. What kind of experience did you have on that mission trip? Right, it's personal to that woman. You're showing and expressing interest in something that she was a part of, and then you're getting to know more about her in that way, and so those are principles that we can apply, and I think you're right. We want to do it in an authentic way, because authenticity matters in storytelling. We've got to be true and genuine in order for someone to want to engage with us further and not feel like it's just lip service, right?

Speaker 1: 19:03

Right, you know it's interesting because I've done a lot of. I have a book that came out called Imagine More and I've done interviews about it. And when I first started talking to people about it's a story of my 20-year experience and I've told that story so many times over the 20 years and it's this yippie-skippy, happy story because those are the details I chose to share. I chose to share, we choose which details to share and it wasn't until a few months ago in an interview that I was asked a question. I ended up telling the story of my worst failure and I had only ever told that story to my husband and to my mother.

Speaker 1: 19:45

I have never even told that story to good friends. It just is a story that gave me a pit in my stomach. It felt terrible and it had happened 16 years earlier. So I told that story and all of a sudden it was funny and all of a sudden, as I was saying it out loud and telling it to a person I didn't even know in an interview, we were both laughing and it was like a weight off my shoulders. It was completely authentic. I was not, you know, and what I have found now whenever I talk about my 20-year experience. It is so much more fun and I think people would rather hear what really happened, because it's hard to relate to all the you know amazing. I can't believe that happened to you. Who wants to hear that?

Speaker 2: 20:31

I want to hear the failures and I like well, the vulnerability Is in during and connective to someone else, right when you are vulnerable in that way about sharing a failure.

Speaker 2: 20:42

I just went to an event with a bunch of other female entrepreneurs here in Nashville earlier this week and there was a woman on the stage who owns a business and her warehouse where a lot of her inventory is house was destroyed in a storm recently and she was talking about how she didn't have the right kind of insurance and how that mistake cost her significantly and what she went through to navigate that. She runs a very successful, well known business in Nashville. But that vulnerability about not having it all together as a business owner in dear to her, to that audience watching and listening so much more than if all she did done would have been to get up there and talk about her successes in her business and how she got to that place the vulnerability of that pain point was such a connection point with the audience she was, you know, in front of, and I think that's important for us to bear in mind is the power of that emotional appeal.

Speaker 1: 21:48

I agree and you know, for us it's actually a freedom. For me it was a freedom was like I recently did a presentation with a group of women and I kind of finished with my content and I said any questions? And they said, no, we just want to hear more stories like, oh OK, I got another. I have a lot of those failure stories and failure stories actually are encouraging because they demonstrate perseverance, because on the other side of the failure, when the failures 15 years ago, you see everything that happened as a result of that failure that wouldn't have happened otherwise. It was probably better.

Speaker 1: 22:24

So retrospect is always a great perspective, right, and if we can help younger people, at this stage of my life I'm 60 years old I'm my fun is talking to the 40 year olds who are, you know, innovators and inventors and they're doing cool things like you and to any value I can add by saying, hey, you know what, I went through something similar and here's how it turned out and don't let that knock you down. I mean, perseverance is probably our best tool as entrepreneurs, if you can fight through and I am looking at the time and I told you I was only going to keep you a certain amount of time, but I'm sorry, if you were boring, I'd let you off sooner. Thank you.

Speaker 2: 23:03

I don't want to end this without talking about your really cool conference. It's called the choice summit.

Speaker 1: 23:07

That's right. Yeah, and it's our fifth one this year.

Speaker 1: 23:16

Well tell us about it, because this is a summit that would be good, even if you're not an entrepreneur, even if you're not starting a business. I'm just gonna tell people. One really fun thing I started doing a couple years ago was going to workshops and conferences and retreats, even though I was kind of faking like I was trying to build this second career I really wasn't, I just wanted to meet interesting people. I've done it for a few years. I've gone to I think five all together and I have met so many interesting, fascinating people. Many of them have been on this podcast. So you don't have to be starting a business to go to these conferences, and Heather's conference is a mental item, not very expensive at all. So now, having said that, tell us about it. What's your conference?

Speaker 2: 24:03

I'll just say, as a busy working woman, you know, I'm raising teenage boys, I'm trying to stay married to my husband of 20 years, I want to care for my body and myself, I'm running a business, I'm engaged in my community. I have just been looking for for years Resources to pour into me and every time I would try to find a conference or an event of this nature to go to, it was one of two things. It was either one Really really expensive, and either I couldn't afford to attend, or only I could go, maybe and not my team, or not you know friends with me or what not. So that would be one experience, or the other would be I could afford to go, but I would get there, and the content and the event was not value rich, it was just the content was not really strong, it was very subpar. Well, because of what I do for a living and who we represent and have access to, I was like we can do this differently. We can make this a value rich experience where we are caring for the woman holistically. Are we talking to her about how to grow her Instagram following? Yes, but we're also talking about the power of rest, you know. Are we talking to her about how to navigate friendships as an adult, busy working woman yes, but we're also talking to her about her spiritual health. So there's a lot of different aspects for caring for the total woman, and we bring in really really well known and impressive industry thought leaders, change agents, who are just having such impact on me personally and I want to share them with our community.

Speaker 2: 25:54

And one thing that we do at the summit that I just love it's such a beautiful community of women is we intentionally pair you with what we call your summit ally. So I handpick every single person who attends who you sit with and we sit in a you facing the stage. So it's this just really powerful connection point. But you're sitting across the table from your summit ally and the idea is that you would have something that would y'all would be able to help each other, serve each other, work together, have something comparable, compatible. So that's why we pair you together and there are things throughout woven, throughout our agenda and program, throughout the day, where you're connecting with that summit ally really intentionally. So it's just this beautiful community of women. I get so much out of it personally and the ultimate goal and the reason I started it was because I wasn't seeing something out there like it, where it was accessible but also really value rich.

Speaker 1: 27:00

Oh, I think it sounds wonderful.

Speaker 2: 27:01

Thank you.

Speaker 1: 27:02

And so how can we learn more about that? Where can we find you? I'll have all of this in the show notes, but if you're in your car right now, you can just memorize this, so yeah, you can just go to choice summitcom and I'm happy to give your listeners a discount code.

Speaker 2: 27:18

I mean, everyone loves a deal, right? Yeah, we do. So my personal discount code is if you'll just put in good company and the number 10, you'll get 10% off of any ticket that you purchase. Our theme this year is to grow in good company. It's all about the power of community.

Speaker 1: 27:37

I love that. Well, I might be going. I have to look at my calendar.

Speaker 2: 27:41

It sounds so great to me, we'd love to have you. It sounds like I could it's April the 29th in Nashville.

Speaker 1: 27:45

That's great, I can even drive there. So Franklin, tennessee, plus there's that great donut place there, not that a five daughters bakery.

Speaker 2: 27:53

Five daughters bakery in the factory. Yeah, it's amazing, and it's housed at this beautiful, charming, idyllic place called Greystone Quarry. Is where the venue where we have it. It's beautiful and it's in Franklin, which is just a little bit south of Nashville.

Speaker 1: 28:08

Yeah, yeah. Well, I wish you the best of luck with it. I thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us. I hope we can have you on again. She has such a long list of great topics I only got to pick one, so we might have to do a Heather series.

Speaker 2: 28:23

Well, it was such a joy to be with you, Stephanie. I appreciate the invitation and loved being with you and am grateful for the opportunity. Well, thank you.